Range Finder

Fiddle Range

The Fiddle Range forms the boundary of Jasper National Park to the south of the Athabasca River.

Father de Smet referred to what is now called the Fiddle River as the ñViolin Riverî in 1846. John Palliser (Hector) referred to the Fiddle Range in 1865.

Known originally as, ñRiviere au Violon (River by the Violin), Fiddle Back Mountains, the Fiddlebacks; name originated with French speaking voyageurs; In 1865 Hector recorded the names [Exploring the Historic Coal Branch; Daniel Kyba and Jane Ross]

HBC fur trader Henry Moberly wrote that when the wind stuck the nearby mountains from a certain angle, one would hear the sound of a fiddle. One story is that when the wind blows in a certain direction near the range, it sounds like a #4 violin string. Another is that the river was shaped like a violin at one point.

Early writers B.W. Mitchell called the range the Fiddle Back Mountains. A ridge near the mouth of the Fiddle looks like the outline of a violin tipped onto its side. [Exploring the Historic Coal Branch; Daniel Kyba and Jane Ross]